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A lot of people ask me similar questions and only yesterday someone said, “How did you select which company to build a business with once you had decided that the Network Marketing Profession was for you? It seems to be a minefield, there are so many companies out there. I don’t want to put in lots of effort to find it all fizzles out when the company leaves the country or goes out of business altogether. I hear about that happening a lot.”

Sadly I had to agree. Over the years I have been approached to join dozens of companies very few of which are still going strong with the great majority having actually folded meaning any investment made in them has been lost. Time, money and effort seem to be the biggest concern on the surface but the emotional expense is actually far greater, some people find it hard to get over the disappointment and some have even turned bitter against the whole profession. I know, it’s irrational, we don’t stop banking because Lehman Brothers went bankrupt but I suppose it’s only human nature. Perhaps a little fear is a good thing if it makes us look more carefully next time…but too much fear could paralyse us for life. Fear and faith are polar opposites.

So how do we pick a company to partner with that will be around for years to come and will continue to reward our efforts fairly. Here are a few of the requirements we had 15 years ago when we first started out. Of course times have changed, for instance the internet and social media are certainly playing a much bigger role now, but the fundamentals are still the same. Its always been a people business and it always will be. The computer is an important tool but talking to a real person on the telephone and face to face in meetings or one on one over coffee are just as important as ever, maybe even more so.

Obviously there are no guarantees, even Woolworths closed their doors in the UK, but you can still do your due diligence and give yourself the best possible chance. If we think past the Network Marketing Companies and consider all types of businesses we find that most of them fail in the first couple of years, in fact 90% go under in the first 18 months and at 5 years only 1 in 1,000 is left.

Who would stake their time, money, and probably most important, their reputation and all their goals and hopes and dreams on a 1000-1 chance. Not the Channings family for sure. We figured it would be best for us to choose from those companies that had overcome the early hurdles and were at least 5 years old. Actually the one we chose was almost twenty years old at that time and has gone from strength to strength since. We did not just want to build a business that would last our lifetime but we want to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren too.

Next we considered various products and services, telephones and utilities were very popular then, some of our friends took that route and one or two have done very well indeed. Personally, and I did look at the concept and it was excellent and it did fit the criteria, but I just couldn’t get excited about electricity and gas. We were looking for a consumable product that if they were better than what people were using now they would come back for them month after month, year after year. The one drawback with utilities was the fact that if someone else came along with a cheaper deal many of the customers would switch again, so we weren’t keen on price alone being our USP.

We didn’t want to educate people on why they should use a product they didn’t already use either, we preferred to just ask them to switch stores and try different brands not so different than what they were already using. Of course they would have to be top quality and they would need to compete fairly on price or why would anyone swap? There were a few companies that fit the bill but we were certainly narrowing the field down.

We wanted a privately owned company that could prove it was financially sound and a strong, stable management team was also important. We saw lots of videos of owners and big hitters in their flashy cars and big mansions but to be honest all that hype turned us off. When I wanted to talk to these people to ask a few questions and get the feel of how they might think of their workforce it proved very difficult. In most cases it was virtually impossible, like trying to meet Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley. So when I finally was able to meet the CEO of one of these multi-national companies and found him to be a humble, family man who showed he genuinely cared I suppose I was sold. It was actually near two years of research that ended in an hour long meeting. His parting shot to me was “Welcome aboard, I hope we grow old together”. We have spoken several times since and it is always a pleasure for me, and it never seems to be too much trouble for him either.

Our choice might not be the right fit for you and I am not even mentioning it here but whatever company you choose let me encourage you to do all you can to get a feel for the character of the people at the top. I don’t care what car he drives, actually I have no idea, all I know is he wants me to succeed in an honest and ethical way…his motto, “Exceptional products at reasonable prices” his company Mission Statement… “To enhance the lives of those we touch by helping people reach their goals”…and something else I have heard him say many times at various meetings and conventions that sums the man up… “there is never any need to exaggerate, the truth is always enough”.

So let me finish there, in promoting your products and your business you will have to tell your story time and time again, sometimes to people who know and trust you and sometimes to people who you only just met but if you can’t put your hand on your heart and tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about your company, then you should either pick another company or get out of the business altogether.

Network marketing has come of age, it is a worthy profession, a great way to earn a living or for those that put in the greatest effort, to make their fortune. Jumping around from deal to deal looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is not very professional…many do it and good luck to them, some do make a fast buck, but at what cost? As for me and my house we have chosen to build on solid foundations.

All of us in the Mastermind Alliance have been working through the MasterKeys one week at a time and we have all read each of the scrolls from Og Mandino’s Greatest Salesman between 80 and 90 times each. I read mine out loud every time because I believe that faith comes by hearing. Faith in whatever it is, the Bible means faith in God comes by hearing the Word of God but whatever you allow yourself to hear repeatedly will increase your faith in that thing, and we know that the subconscious doesn’t differentiate, it just accepts what the conscious guard of our hearts repeatedly allows through.

So as I was reading Luke Chapter 8 a few days ago, a verse that I have probably read a hundred times but never really noticed before leapt off the page at me. Its verse 18 where Jesus says…

Therefore consider carefully how you listen.

Then he goes on to say

Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

And I may have thought that was more about material things and I am sure since all truth is parallel it can be but here I now see it as spiritual… or should I say understanding…If I understand this it will be given to me to understand more…If I do not understand even that which I thought I understood will be taken away from me.

So lets look at the question then…”How do we listen, or how do we hear? Well you can hear without listening can’t you. If we don’t pay attention we miss what we were intended to hear.

If someone is taking the trouble to try to tell us something we should at least start from the premise that they are doing that for the good of all concerned.

Jesus before He said consider carefully HOW you listen Jesus had just told the story about the farmer who went out to sow seeds. The birds steal some off the path, the sun burns up those that fall upon the rocky ground because its roots are not deep enough, some live a half life, they can hang around for years but they never bare any fruit because they never seem to get past the cares of this world.

And some just seem to be overcome what ever happens and they bare fruit, some 30 some 60 and some 100 fold. They bare fruit and so to what they have more will be added.

Maybe we have taken this in a passive way…if you are rocky ground then you are rocky ground…if you have the thorns then thats just the way it is…but since we have been thinking a lot about thinking I have realised that we actually get to choose what kind of ground we will be…

So if I am a hard ground person (due to my past thinking) and I want to be good a ground person that is going to take some effort, and I will really have to have the desire if I am to see it through.…we have read in the Master Keys that thinking is work, hard mental work and that is something many people will not want to do but we must understand that it is our own choice.

If we will do the work, regardless of the pain and the time it will take, we can transform our hearts from being hard where we cannot stop the birds from stealing the seed to the kind of fertile soil where we could not stop the production of a profitable harvest even if we wanted to.

If my heart is like the hard path it is a result of my past thinking and doings but if I want things to be different I have to change how I hear things…my understanding of the laws of the mind must be allowed to bare fruit. The Law of Growth tells me, If I forget about the things that I have allowed to harden my heart they will atrophy. If I fill my mind with whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, if I think about these things, Phil 4:8 my very character and then my circumstances will change. My sermons have been greatly influenced by this prolonged study and I spoke from the pulpit on New Years Day inspired by these thoughts. http://www.hgfchurch.org

To carefully consider how we listen there are 4 steps.

Hear, Interpret, Evaluate and Respond.

We first hear, by paying attention and shutting out all distractions…

We may then have to interpret…I found the language quite antiquated with Emmerson and to a lesser degree with Haanel so a dictionary is proving useful quite often…

Having understood or translated the words we must Evaluate…

I have tried to keep an open mind…to allow others a different perspective when the temptation has been to compare notes with what I already believe. I have not agreed absolutely with everything and I have disagreed at times but I have seen value in everything even if it has simply opened a point of discussion in my mind.

And our response perhaps with more words as in this writing but more importantly with the physical application off what we have discovered. Are we doing anything differently because this is the only proof that we listened and understood. By the fruit you shall know them.

The Seven Laws of the Mind have been in important part of this week. I have been thinking about them a lot, I keep trying to memorise them and obviously am trying to use them whenever needed.

The Law of Substitution is number one with good reason. I have used it for many years without ever putting a name to it. Forcing myself to sing a happy song when under pressure, quoting a meaningful promise from scripture or a powerful proverb from elsewhere when faced with a difficult situation; even trying to transport myself mentally to a better time and place. I have probably done all of those things all my life but usually only in very difficult situations. Now I think quickly about using it even when a fleeting negative thought comes in. The birds can hover but I am not letting them nest.

I have been using the other laws more too. The Law of Practice can work both ways. Thats why we make the proviso, Perfect Practice Prevents Poor Performance. Look what happens if you reverse the order of ‘poor’ and ‘perfect’, the opposite affect.

If someone is doing something the wrong way and keeps on practicing without correction then things can only get worse. We all hate criticism and whilst I don’t want to go off at a tangent here perhaps we should use the Law of Dual Thought and take criticism as a gift, even if it was not meant that was. Then that would be a great opportunity to use The Law of Forgiveness wouldn’t it.

But let me return to the Law of Practice and give you an example of how using it in combination with The Law of Relaxation and the Law of The Subconscious has been working for me recently. I have been playing table tennis regularly on Friday nights and obviously we are all getting better with practice.

But more than that, I am learning to play without engaging my conscious mind. I jokingly call it using the force to the guys I play with but I can honestly say I am getting better than I have ever been in my life. I am 60 and not as fit as some of the other guys but they can’t get near me when I am able to zone in, which is happening more and more of the time but not yet all of the time. I could always play better when just knocking up but then seemed to go all tense once the game started and would make silly errors and throw away vital points. Using the law of relaxation…bypassing the conscious mind and letting the subconscious mind and muscle memory come together I am not only hitting great shots but am also moving much faster than when I think too hard.

I know it is only a game but I believe this principle is transferable into anything we might want to do. I am planning to teach the church congregation from the 4th chapter of Philippians on New Years Day. It is very rare I have a sermon outlined so far in advance but I saw so much more in it while preparing for last Sunday’s message that I had to say I will leave this portion and come back later. I think that’s the first time I have ever given a movie trailer for a future sermon, I am looking forward to hearing it myself. If you fancy listening to the first part it is under sermons 11th December at www.HGFChurch.org

Back to Philippians Chapter 4 from verses 4-9 Paul writes

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Then you will experience God’s peace,which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

How powerful is this to Rejoice is a choice. You could worry if you wanted to, but there is always an ‘instead’ with God. Pray Instead.

Giving thanks is a choice…having an attitude of gratitude…we can be upset at what we don’t have right now but ‘instead’ count your blessings one by one. You will be amazed at how much you do have.

Use the Law of Substitution…FIX YOUR THOUGHTS…its another choice and maybe the most important one. You choose what you think about and that is the cause before the effect. What will be the effect of focussing on things that are “true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.”

God’s peace,which exceeds anything we can understand… will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Solomon tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence for out of it come the issues of life. So it’s our choice to do it and God has our back when we do. I understand tat it is a stretch for some people to recognise that God is a person and became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ but that’s just you old blueprint at work. It’s the conditioning we were all given in this post Christian land. It took me till I was 30 to have my eyes opened a little. I just accepted the words of Christ by faith, faith is the substance. But what I have learned on this MKMMA has so enhanced my faith…I can almost see how everything works now. The 7 Laws, the Master Ket, particularly finding out about the Solar Plexus have been nothing short of revelation. I knew my spirit had been reborn and now linked me to the Holy Spirit but just how that happened was a mystery on which much light has been shed here.

The law of forgiveness is the drawbridge…Jesus is the Door…I forgive, I seek forgiveness…I am forgiven…forgiven everything and it was quite a lot of forgiveness I needed.